More Combat Sport Psychology Research

PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF PSYCHOLOGY TO SUCCESS IN ELITE KICKBOXINGTracey J. Devonpor

School of Sport, Performing Arts and Leisure, University of Wolverhampton, UK

Published (online): 01 July 2006

ABSTRACT

The study used semi-structured interviews to explore the views of three high performance kickboxers regarding the contribution of psychology to the development and maintenance of expert performance within kickboxing. The results provide a useful insight into the experiences of high performance kickboxers, identifying those mental skills and psychological attributes that are perceived to contribute to success. Participants identified seven mental skills that they believed to be linked to success in kickboxing; 1) effective use of self-talk, 2) relaxation, 3) heightened concentration, 4) self-regulation of arousal, 5) goal setting, 6) coping with being hit, and 7) imagery. Three psychological characteristics were identified by all participants as contributing to success, 1) high self-efficacy, 2) highly motivated and 3) mental toughness. Although not specifically identified by participants, it is suggested that a fourth psychological characteristic was also apparent. Participants demonstrated varying degrees of emotional intelligence thorough their ability to monitor and manipulate their emotional states prior to and during competition. Martial artists used a number of long and short-term psychological strategies in preparing for competition. Furthermore, whilst mental skills were not systematically practiced, all participants endeavored to integrate some form of mental training within physical training. It is recommended that sport psychologists help martial artists develop and refine individualized mental training routines, assisting with the formal integration of psychological training into physical training. Martial artists spend the majority of their time practicing as opposed to competing. As such, the integration of mental skills training within physical training may help ensure quality practice, and facilitate the effective transfer of mental skills into competition.

My bias is that integrating mental training with physical is probably a really good point. One of the kids at my gym who wants to go pro is ridiculously atheltic, fast strong talented, but lost his last fight at least partly because his focus wasn't there and he can't regulate his emotions (likes to go in angry and try to "use" that to stay aggressive).

Well one of the author's main points was that mental skills training programs should be individualized to the needs of the specific athlete. However, she didn't go into much detail about what the mental skills training regimen might look like. It sounded like some components would involve learning to reduce anxiety before a competition (e.g. relaxation training), developing positive self-talk through some cognitive therapy type strategies, learning to get hit, presumably by having people hit you, and practicing visualizing positive outcomes of a competition with emphasis on using multi-sensory imagination.

One basic conclusion she makes is that athletes in general spend 99% of their time practicing and only 1% of their time in competition, so you have to prepare yourself for what competition will be like (noise, crowd, distractions, pressure, getting hit full-force, performance anxiety) during practice. It's the sport version of aliveness I guess.

There were some cool references though, that in one study 93.5% of a winners from a sample of 208 karate black and brown belts in a competition could be predicted based on lower anxiety scores. Another study predicted 63% of winners in a TKD competition (this time it was novices) based on lower anxiety scores.

The three kickboxers interviewed all emphasized the importance of vivid mentally imagery (e.g. running through the fight in their imagination) as a key part of their pre-fight routine.

There were some cool references though, that in one study 93.5% of a winners from a sample of 208 karate black and brown belts in a competition could be predicted based on lower anxiety scores. Another study predicted 63% of winners in a TKD competition (this time it was novices) based on lower anxiety scores.

The three kickboxers interviewed all emphasized the importance of vivid mentally imagery (e.g. running through the fight in their imagination) as a key part of their pre-fight routine.

I have a causality =/= correlation alarm going off. The better prepared fighter is more likely to win. Confidence stems from superior preparation. The correlation is higher in more experienced fighters, who know from past competitions what their chances actually are.

I have a causality =/= correlation alarm going off. The better prepared fighter is more likely to win. Confidence stems from superior preparation. The correlation is higher in more experienced fighters, who know from past competitions what their chances actually are.

I had a similar thought (e.g. people who know they are likely to win won't be as anxious). I think there is a good chance too though that managing ones own anxiety is a component of performance. There's been plenty of research on the Yerkes-Dodson law.

The real proof would be in the pudding. Someone needs to do a study comparing the performances of people who learn anxiety management strategies to those who don't, and control for variables like experience level, amount of time in the art, number of fights ,fight record, etc.

Well, this is definitely interesting and I would like to see results from further studies. It's not very surprising to see what the studies have concluded so far, to me anyway.

Erm: What exactly do you feel the ring experience does for a fighter besides decrease anxiety? Maybe it's my lack of ring experience, but I don't see how having that experience would help you in any other way.

Sports psych seems to be a growing field, so I bet there are even more well-designed studies than I've seen so far. I have a colleague, counseling psych grad, who is going into sport psych attached to a University counseling center. Cool stuff!

What exactly do you feel the ring experience does for a fighter besides decrease anxiety? Maybe it's my lack of ring experience, but I don't see how having that experience would help you in any other way.

The study doesn't claim experience is a reliable indicator of victory, it says that among experienced fighters, confidence is a reliable indicator of victory, moreso than among less experienced fighters. My suspicion is that the confidence or lack thereof is derived largely from an accurate self-assessment, with the more experienced fighter's assessment being more accurate.

@lordbd, I love Davenport's stuff, used them a lot in my main paper when I was writing at uni.

http://www.bullshido.net/forums/show...31#post2676931 - See outcome of research paper here, note - I was not involved in any way in doing trials or experiments this paper was merely a theoretical investigation, and I have a couple of other sources you might have read or might want to, but they do verge on the passion/spirituality type path.

The study doesn't claim experience is a reliable indicator of victory, it says that among experienced fighters, confidence is a reliable indicator of victory, moreso than among less experienced fighters. My suspicion is that the confidence or lack thereof is derived largely from an accurate self-assessment, with the more experienced fighter's assessment being more accurate.